Do You Have a Marketing Strategy?
"The supreme art of war is to subdue
the enemy without fighting." Sun Tzu, Chinese Military
Strategist, Author of ''Art of War''
You know you have a terrific product.
You've defined your objectives, conducted your
industry research, and performed a SWOT. You've
created
a brochure, done some networking, and tried cutting
your price. But you're still not getting sales, and your
marketing expenses seem to be rising without the kind
of payback that you need.
So what's the problem?
The answer could be that you lack a marketing
strategy.
In this issue of Insightful
Marketing, we'll take a look at what
a marketing strategy really is and how it can help you
increase your marketing effectiveness.
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Hello!
Welcome to Insightful Marketing!
Are you having trouble achieving your marketing
objectives? You may be asking yourself, "Is there a
better way to reach my
objectives?" The
answer can be found in your Marketing
Strategy--that important, overarching approach to
reaching your customers in order to increase
sales.
This month, Insightful Marketing introduces the
seventh of ten insights to help your business market
more
effectively. Insight #7, "Develop a Marketing
Strategy," takes a look at the role of an effective
marketing strategy in achieving your objectives.
We value your suggestions! Please let us know of any
topics that you would like to see in future
newsletters.
Here's to your success!
Jean Woods and Peggy Morrow
info@insightactionimpact.com
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| Insight #7: Develop a Marketing Strategy | | | "All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer,
but what none can see is the strategy out of which
victory is evolved." Sun Tzu, Chinese Military
Strategist, Author of ''Art of War''
In past issues of Insightful Marketing, we took
a look at the process of identifying your business'
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
and
setting marketing objectives. These activities help
you to determine
what you are trying to accomplish through your
marketing activities. Now it's time to consider how you
should go about achieving your marketing objectives by
developing your marketing strategy. What Does a Marketing Strategy Include?
A marketing strategy addresses the various aspects of
how to reach your customers with your products and
services. Segmentation, branding, marketing
messages, and positioning provide the
framework for the image that you project during your
communications with customers.
Market segmentation defines what
industries, geographies, and types of customers are
most likely to purchase your products and services. By
segmenting your market, you can identify your target
markets and develop methods to differentiate your
offers to each targeted segment,
enabling you to market more effectively.
Markets can be segmented or targeted using a variety
of factors, including:
Demographics-- age, family size, life cycle,
occupation
Geography - cities, states, regions, countries
Behavior characteristics -- product knowledge,
usage,
attitudes, responses
Psychographic characteristics --lifestyle, values,
personality
Branding, marketing messages, and positioning
provide a unified image for everything that
your customers see including brochures, letters, web
site, and press releases.
Your brand and marketing messages create the
name
recognition and that critical "mindshare" for your
customers and potential customers. Using your brand
and marketing messages consistently in every piece of
customer communication not only creates mindshare,
but also makes all of your customer communications
effective and consistent.
Positioning includes the more tactical
aspects of the marketing strategy, the "4 P's":
Product encompasses features, quality,
packaging, style, etc., of your products or
services.
Price includes all aspects of your pricing,
for
example, list price, discounts, and payment
terms.
Place refers generally to the ways that
make
your product available to your customers, including
channels, coverage, transportation and
locations.
Promotion represents the way that you
communicate with customers about your product and
persuade them to buy. Promotion includes advertising,
public relations, sales collateral, etc.
In our next newsletter, we'll examine the tactical side
of some of the aspects of the marketing strategy in
Insight #8:Create
a promotions plan with a budget and a
calendar.
Want to learn more about marketing
strategy? Click here | | |
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